1. Technological Field
The present invention relates to a temperature measurement device and a temperature measurement method or the like.
2. Background Technology
A health state, basal metabolism state, mental state, or other biological information, for example, is obtained from the body temperature, which is a piece of basic vital information. In a case in which the health state, basal metabolism state, or mental state of a person or animal is estimated based on the body temperature of the person or animal, information on the temperature of a deep part (deep temperature) is necessary, rather than the temperature of a surface part.
In a case in which the temperature inside a furnace, duct, or the like is measured, when the internal temperature (i.e., deep temperature) can be measured by a temperature measurement device that is provided on the outside of the furnace or duct, there is no need for work to place the temperature measurement device inside the furnace, duct, or the like, and there is also no risk of the temperature measurement device being corroded by an internal substance.
A clinical thermometer for measuring a deep temperature is described in Patent Citation 1, for example. In Patent Citation 1, two temperature measurement parts (first temperature measurement part and second temperature measurement part) are disposed parallel to each other at a distance L on a human body. A first heat insulator is provided on the environment (atmosphere) side of the first temperature measurement part, and a second heat insulator is also provided on the environment (atmosphere) side of the second temperature measurement part, and by using a different material for the second heat insulator than the first heat insulator, the two temperature measurement parts have different thermal resistance values, and two different heat fluxes are thereby created. The first temperature measurement part measures a first body surface temperature and a first intermediate temperature, and the second temperature measurement part measures a second body surface temperature and a second intermediate temperature. These four units of temperature data are used to measure the deep temperature by a predetermined arithmetic equation.
Specifically, for the first heat flux, by focusing on a point at which the heat flux flowing through the first temperature measurement part and the heat flux from a deep part of the body to the body surface are equal, a first equation is obtained which relates the deep temperature, a measured temperature, and the thermal resistance. A second equation relating the deep temperature, a measured temperature, and the thermal resistance is obtained in the same manner for the second heat flux. By solving a system of equations, the deep temperature can be accurately calculated even when the thermal resistance value of the body is unknown.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-308538 (Patent Citation 1) discloses such clinical thermometer for example.